United Nations Environment Programme

Background

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was established after the UN Conference on the Human Environment, which was held in Stockholm in 1972. It was established as a global body to act as the environmental conscience of the UN system.

In its Organisational Profile, UNEP describes its purpose as: 'To provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.'

UNEP goes on to describe the Stockholm Conference as marking 'the formal acceptance by the international community that development and the environment are inextricably linked'.

UNEP undertakes conferences and conventions to address various environmental issues which includes issues relating to endangered species, controlling the movement of hazardous wastes and the depletion of the ozone layer. It has established conventions such as the 1987 Montreal Protocol of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, the Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity. UNEP states that it provides information, policy advice and practical support to UN member states in relation to the Millennium Development Goals and Agenda 21. It was also involved with the establishment of the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change‎ and the UN Global Compact

UNEP describes its 5 priority areas as being: environmental assessment and early warning, Development of policy instruments, enhanced coordination with environmental conventions, technology transfer and support to Africa. Its reponsibilities are described as including:

• Promoting international cooperation in the field of the environment and recommending appropriate policies.
• Monitoring the status of the global environment and gathering and disseminating environmental information.
• Catalyzing environmental awareness and action to address major environmental threats among governments, the private sector and civil society.
• Facilitating the coordination of UN activities on matters concerned with the environment, and ensuring, through cooperation, liaison and participation, that their activities take environmental considerations into account.
• Developing regional programmes for environmental sustainability.
• Helping, upon request, environment ministries and other environmental authorities, in particular in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, to formulate and implement environmental policies.
• Providing country-level environmental capacity building and technology support.
• Helping to develop international environmental law, and providing expert advice on the development and use of environmental concepts and instruments.